Comcast Seeks TV and Other Consumer Electronics Partners to Bring Xfinity TV Cable Service to More Retail Devices

By Mark Hess
|
Apr 20, 2016

Our customers should be able to access their Xfinity TV cable service wherever they want, whenever they want, on whatever device they want. We’ve developed apps that give customers the ability to watch thousands of shows and movies at home or on the go, and these apps have already been downloaded more than 23 million times to a number of retail devices. Now, we are working with consumer electronics device manufacturers on a new program that will bring these great experiences to more devices including smart TVs.

Today, we are launching the Xfinity TV Partner Program. Through this new program, we will expand the range of retail devices our customers can use to access Xfinity TV cable service without the need to lease a set-top box. By leveraging the open HTML5 standard that has been widely adopted across the industry, we are providing a common framework to make it easy for TV and other device manufacturers to bring our Xfinity TV Partner App to customers on their devices.

This app will provide access to our Xfinity TV cable service, including the Emmy-Award winning Xfinity TV guide, live and on demand programming and cloud DVR recordings, and will be available on partners’ smart TVs, TV-connected devices, and other IP-enabled video devices. Importantly, the app will also ensure that our service is delivered in a secure and trusted environment that satisfies programmer agreements and complies with all regulatory requirements, including privacy protections, delivery of Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages, and closed captioning, video description, and other accessibility features. We are already working with launch partner Samsung Electronics to implement this app on its Smart TVs, and we look forward to working with other companies as well.

As part of the Xfinity TV Partner Program, Comcast is prepared to provide consumers with a capability to search through Comcast’s video assets from a device’s user interface with playback of a selected asset via the Xfinity TV Partner app. However, in order to provide a cohesive customer experience, such integrated search needs to include more than just this app; it must also include similar data from other video apps as well.

The Xfinity TV Partner App can be easily implemented by any company whose consumer electronics device supports HTML5 and other compatibility requirements. While many TV and other device manufacturers already support HTML5, for those that do not, we’re open to working together to explore customized versions of the app for their platforms as well. We have already developed award-winning app experiences on iOS and Android devices, and today we also announced a partner app agreement with Roku. This customized app will enable our customers to access their Xfinity TV cable service on their TVs via a Roku streaming player or directly on a Roku TV.

As I mentioned and want to underscore, Comcast Xfinity TV apps have already been downloaded 23 million times to a variety of retail devices, showing the popularity and convenience of watching TV in or out of the home. The FCC’s technical advisory committee also recently highlighted that video apps are rapidly proliferating due to consumer demand. In light of the success of the apps-based model in the marketplace, the far-reaching government technical mandate being currently proposed by the FCC is unnecessary. The FCC’s proposed set-top box mandate threatens to undermine this highly-dynamic marketplace, create substantial costs and consumer harms, and will take years to develop -- only to be likely outdated by the time it reaches the marketplace – all in an effort to achieve what apps are already delivering for consumers.

We look forward to continuing to work with partners across the industry on the Xfinity TV Partner Program and to provide our customers with even more choice in where and how they access and enjoy the Xfinity TV experience. Consumer electronics manufacturers seeking more information about this program and how we can work together to implement this new app on your TVs or other devices should visit https://developer.xfinity.com/cableapp or contact Comcast directly via email at partner@comcast.com.